The year now ending began gloomily with the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris reminding us of hopeless breakdowns in mutual understanding and tolerance worldwide; now it’s set to close hot on the heels of an agreement by nearly 200 countries at the COP21 talks ...

“I have rarely seen a great production of any Chekhov play in Japan. Sometimes, I’ve even wanted to ask how they managed to make them so tedious.” Mansai Nomura, one of the country’s leading kyōgen (traditional comedy) actors, may say this with a wry ...